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Senseless
Acts of Comedy entertain student crowds
Those
who want a good laugh have the option of seeing a live
performance on campus Thursday nights.
By
Erica
Parker
Staff Reporter
Thursday nights can kick off the club and dancing scene
for college students. For others there’s Senseless
Acts of Comedy, the improvisational comedy troupe that
performs on campus.
Senseless Acts formed in fall 2002 by founding members
Andrew Hamer and John C. Anderson because of Hamer’s
interest in professional comedy. Both are senior radio-TV-film
majors.
Hamer first tried stand up comedy that summer but hit
a dry spell.
“I honestly would get sick of saying the same jokes,”
he said. “I can’t stand that.”
Hamer later decided he wanted to improve his improvisation
skills, so that he can attend the Second City Conservatory
in Chicago, an improvisation school that many comedians
have attended.
“I knew that I couldn’t go to Chicago and be
funny. I decided to get my feet wet and I started doing
improv,” Hamer said. “After seeing Four Day
Weekend a few times for inspiration, I put out and ad
in TCU Announce and ‘Senseless Acts’ was born.”
Sophomore biology major Proshad Nemati said, ‘‘Senseless
Acts brings people together, if you don’t want to
go out. It gives you something fun to do on a Thursday.
The funniest scene from Thursday night was when Matt Meyer
was putting animals down his pants for the thrill of it,
and Nathan Pena placed an alligator down his backside.”
Matt Meyer, a junior political science major, said he
wanted to be involved with the comedy troupe because he
enjoyed watching improv comedy such as, “Whose Line
Is It Anyway?” and was looking for co-curricular
activities.
When asked how Meyer instantly gains energy, he said he
never tries to be funny.
If the troupe has funny individuals, then the scenes will
be comedic through playing out the situations, Meyer said.
“The energy is important to the mood and feeling
we try to create,” Meyer said. “The audience
and ourselves can always tell when we’re trying to
be funny. It’s more rewarding and hysterical when
comedy happens serendipitously.”
Hamer said the energy comes from the crowd.
“If they’re having a bad night, so are we,”
Hamer said.
“The funny ideas come from team building. If one
of us tried to perform the same show alone, you can bet
they’d run out of energy fast,” Hamer said.
Meyer said most of the troupe members have known each
other from the start.
“We have done a lot of improv with one another and
have become great friends. Andrew, Nathan Pena and myself
live in an apartment together,” Meyer said.
Senseless Acts performs at 9:30 p.m., Thursdays, in Moudy
Building North, Room 141. |
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Ty
Halasz/Staff Photographer
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| Senior
radio-TV-film major Andrew Hamer (left) and sophomore
business major Chris Niemczyk do what they do best:
go nuts. |
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